Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska
Submarine mass wasting events have damaged underwater structures and propagated waves that have inundated towns and affected human populations in nearby coastal areas. Susceptibility to submarine landslides can be pronounced in degrading cryospheric environments, where existing glaciers can provide...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.821188 https://doaj.org/article/ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 2023-05-15T16:20:32+02:00 Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska Nikita N. Avdievitch Jeffrey A. Coe 2022-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.821188 https://doaj.org/article/ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.821188/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.821188 https://doaj.org/article/ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) submarine landslide susceptibility bathymetry deglacation fjord fan delta Science Q article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.821188 2022-12-31T03:51:32Z Submarine mass wasting events have damaged underwater structures and propagated waves that have inundated towns and affected human populations in nearby coastal areas. Susceptibility to submarine landslides can be pronounced in degrading cryospheric environments, where existing glaciers can provide high volumes of sediment, while cycles of glaciation and ice-loss can damage and destabilize slopes. Despite their contribution to potential tsunami hazard, submarine landslides can be difficult to study because of limited access and data collection in underwater environments. Here we present a method to quantify and map the submarine landslide susceptibility of sediment-covered slopes in Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, using multibeam-sonar bathymetric digital elevation models (DEMs) and historical maps of glacial extents over the last ∼250 years. After mapping an inventory of >7,000 landslide scarps in submarine sediments, we filtered the inventory by size to account for limitations in DEM resolution and spatial scales relevant to tsunami hazards. We then assessed landslide concentration, accounting for the age of the initial exposure of submarine slopes by deglaciation. We found a positive correlation between landslide concentration and deglaciation age, which we interpreted as a mean landslide accumulation rate over the period of record. Local deviations from this rate indicated differences in susceptibility. Additionally, we accounted for some of the effect of material and morphometric properties by estimating the submarine bedrock-sediment distribution using a morphometric model and assessing the relationship between slope angle and landslide incidence. Finally, we supplemented our susceptibility assessment with a geomorphic component based on the propensity of active submarine fans and deltas to produce landslides. Thus, our map of submarine landslide susceptibility incorporates three components: age-adjusted landslide concentration, slope angle, and geomorphology. We find that ... Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glaciers Alaska Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Glacier Bay Frontiers in Earth Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
submarine landslide susceptibility bathymetry deglacation fjord fan delta Science Q |
spellingShingle |
submarine landslide susceptibility bathymetry deglacation fjord fan delta Science Q Nikita N. Avdievitch Jeffrey A. Coe Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
topic_facet |
submarine landslide susceptibility bathymetry deglacation fjord fan delta Science Q |
description |
Submarine mass wasting events have damaged underwater structures and propagated waves that have inundated towns and affected human populations in nearby coastal areas. Susceptibility to submarine landslides can be pronounced in degrading cryospheric environments, where existing glaciers can provide high volumes of sediment, while cycles of glaciation and ice-loss can damage and destabilize slopes. Despite their contribution to potential tsunami hazard, submarine landslides can be difficult to study because of limited access and data collection in underwater environments. Here we present a method to quantify and map the submarine landslide susceptibility of sediment-covered slopes in Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, using multibeam-sonar bathymetric digital elevation models (DEMs) and historical maps of glacial extents over the last ∼250 years. After mapping an inventory of >7,000 landslide scarps in submarine sediments, we filtered the inventory by size to account for limitations in DEM resolution and spatial scales relevant to tsunami hazards. We then assessed landslide concentration, accounting for the age of the initial exposure of submarine slopes by deglaciation. We found a positive correlation between landslide concentration and deglaciation age, which we interpreted as a mean landslide accumulation rate over the period of record. Local deviations from this rate indicated differences in susceptibility. Additionally, we accounted for some of the effect of material and morphometric properties by estimating the submarine bedrock-sediment distribution using a morphometric model and assessing the relationship between slope angle and landslide incidence. Finally, we supplemented our susceptibility assessment with a geomorphic component based on the propensity of active submarine fans and deltas to produce landslides. Thus, our map of submarine landslide susceptibility incorporates three components: age-adjusted landslide concentration, slope angle, and geomorphology. We find that ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nikita N. Avdievitch Jeffrey A. Coe |
author_facet |
Nikita N. Avdievitch Jeffrey A. Coe |
author_sort |
Nikita N. Avdievitch |
title |
Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_short |
Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_full |
Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Submarine Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Recently Deglaciated Terrain, Glacier Bay, Alaska |
title_sort |
submarine landslide susceptibility mapping in recently deglaciated terrain, glacier bay, alaska |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.821188 https://doaj.org/article/ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 |
geographic |
Glacier Bay |
geographic_facet |
Glacier Bay |
genre |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Alaska |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science, Vol 10 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2022.821188/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-6463 2296-6463 doi:10.3389/feart.2022.821188 https://doaj.org/article/ea93381a2372433da3a12770e56237e9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.821188 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1766008456496545792 |